Beginning on January 1, 2025, all New York employers will be required to provide eligible employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave (“Paid Prenatal Leave”) during any 52-week period for health care services during or...more
12/5/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medical Leave ,
New Hires ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Pregnancy ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Wage and Hour
On July 3, 2024, Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a limited, preliminary injunction barring the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) from enforcing its controversial Final Rule...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Lack of Authority ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Set-Asides ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas
On April 17, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a decades-old circuit split regarding what amount of harm a plaintiff must demonstrate to bring an employment discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act...more
Beginning on March 12, 2024, a new social media privacy law for employees and job applicants goes into effect in New York. The new law will amend the New York Labor Law (the “NYLL”) to restrict most employers from accessing...more
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a rare unanimous ruling in Groff v. DeJoy, and set a higher standard for employers to meet when denying religious accommodations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964...more
7/6/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Undue Burden ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
On April 6, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Workforce Protection (“DCWP”) promulgated its final regulations (the “Final Regulations”) regarding the New York City Automated Employment Decision Tools Law...more
4/13/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
City of New York ,
Decision-Making Process ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Machine Learning ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government
On March 3, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a series of amendments to the New York Pay Transparency Law (“NYPTL”) into law. As we previously reported, the NYPTL takes effect on September 17, 2023 and will require...more
3/9/2023
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On December 21, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed S.9427-A/A.10477 (the “New York Pay Transparency Law” or “NYPTL”), a pay transparency law that will affect most employers who do business in the state of New York. The New...more
On December 12, 2022, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) announced that it would delay the date of its enforcement of the New York City Automated Employment Decision Tools Law (“AEDTL”)...more
12/14/2022
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Decision-Making Process ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New York ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Hearing ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
On April 28, 2022, the New York City Council (the “Council”) passed Int. 134, an amendment to New York City’s Salary Transparency Law (the “Salary Transparency Law” or “STL”) that finalized a number of significant changes to...more
5/2/2022
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
On November 23, 2021, the New York City Council passed a bill requiring New York City employers to provide employees who are parents or legal guardians of a child with four hours of paid COVID-19 child vaccination time, per...more
On September 6, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that COVID-19 has been designated as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under New York State’s...more
9/10/2021
/ Amended Legislation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New York ,
NYDOL ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Safety Standards ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
As we previously reported, on May 5, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act” or the “Act”) into law. On July 6, 2021 the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”)...more
This week, both houses of the New York state legislature passed a package of amendments (the “Amendments”) to the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act” or the “Act”) designed to clarify, modify, and delay...more
6/15/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act ,
New Amendments ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
State Legislatures ,
Workplace Safety
On April 23, 2021, the New York state legislature delivered a copy of the Health and Essential Rights Act (the “HERO Act” or the “Act”) to Governor Andrew Cuomo for signature. The legislation was created as a response to...more
4/27/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act ,
Masks ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
NYDOL ,
Screening Procedures ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
On January 20, 2021 – nearly a year after the law’s effective date – the New York Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) issued new guidance (the “Guidance”) for employers regarding the scope of available sick leave for employees...more
2/3/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Leave of Absence ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Leave ,
Quarantine ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing
On September 28, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill into law significantly amending the New York City Earned Sick and Safe Time Act (“ESSTA”) in order to better align with New York State’s new paid sick leave law (the...more
On August 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-5 (“FAB 2020-5” or the “Bulletin”) in an effort to guide an increasing number of employers faced with the challenge of...more
On August 12, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law S.6577, a bill implementing a series of sweeping changes to the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”). As we previously reported, S.6577 provides for a number of...more
8/29/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Faragher/Ellerth defense ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
NYSHRL ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws
On March 27, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, an act designed to amend and strengthen the existing federal Equal Pay Act (“EPA”), 29 U.S.C. § 206(d). The Paycheck Fairness Act,...more
3/29/2019
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
On February 18, 2019, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the “NYCCHR”) released new legal enforcement guidance (the “Guidance”) regarding discrimination on the basis of natural hair and hairstyles. In the Guidance,...more
Part II: Offer Letters and Background Checks -
In a previous article, we addressed certain pitfalls for numerous foreign employers seeking to hire personnel in New York State (regarding advertising and interviewing for a...more
11/6/2018
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Background Checks ,
Credit History ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Entities ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Job Offers ,
NYSHRL ,
Offer Letters ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State Labor Laws
Part I: Advertising and Interviewing -
Foreign companies expanding their operations to the U.S. through New York usually handle their U.S. hiring process like the way they do back in their home country. They should not....more
9/28/2018
/ Advertising ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Job Offers ,
Offer Letters ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Labor Laws
As described in a previous blog post, New York’s 2019 Budget created significant new responsibilities for employers in the state with respect to sexual harassment prevention. As of October 9, 2018, all employers in New York...more
On April 12, 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the 2019 budget for the State of New York (the “Budget”) which dramatically changed the landscape of obligations which New York employers are to their employees. Beyond...more